News The Walt Disney Company Board of Directors Extends Robert A. Iger’s Contract as CEO Through 2026

[Sirwalterraleigh]

That line was from the TV Show succession. When the CEO (the Dad) tells his kids (exec management) they none of them are going to succeed him. Wasn’t a shot at ya.

Well played…

I’ve never watched succession…started to but couldn’t get used to the quirky way they wrote it.

Interesting idea though

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

I think ultimately it needs to be someone who understands brand integrity. That’s for both studio and theme park / experiences.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I think ultimately it needs to be someone who understands brand integrity. That’s for both studio and theme park / experiences.

You mean preserving it?

Or talking about it constantly at tech symposiums and then doing everything you can to cheapen/destroy it the rest of the week?

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Or talking about it constantly at tech symposiums and then doing everything you can to cheapen/destroy it the rest of the week?

Well, I am implying and hoping for a positive change! Haha

 

[larryz]

Many will laugh at this but I’m gonna say it anyways. This D23 is absolutely critical for the company it needs to hit hard. If they deliver on announcements (not just for the parks but that certainly helps) it can do alot to help the public perception of the brand. Especially after Universal’s big Dark Universe announcement yesterday.

I also think strong announcements could possibly drive stock performance. Investing in the parks as well with worthwhile announcements can't hurt either. If they don’t deliver, I think they are in for a rude awakening.

Wait until D23 membership becomes mandatory if you want to buy tickets, make park ressies, or stay in a Disney resort!

 

[larryz]

I totally agree, she is the best candidate. Plus being female, she will not get the same short leash that others received. I thought the whole Stagg situation was handled horribly. Whoever is picked will make mistakes, but they need time to grow into the job. I believe that Dana Walden is the right person and should have time to prove it.

Thank you for that candid assessment, Mr Walden. /s

 

[Surferboy567]

I know nothing really about Walden. So couldn’t say if she is bad or good.

EDIT: What do we think of D’Amaro’s chances?

 

[peng]

Walden isn't D'Amaro and the fox tv output has been better than the parks output creatively. and hasn't suffered as much of a brain drain as the parks division has under D'Amaro. I mean, it couldn't get worse than the Chapek/Iger 2.0 eras, though I'm not sure if Walden is a lock for Iger's replacement than she was last year, there's been more feelers for D'Amaro as of late, though I do feel having Chapek with hair as the CEO will have the trades eat him alive. Feel a co-CEO situation may happen, though I don't see that going over well.

 

[pdude81]

I know nothing really about Walden. So couldn’t say if she is bad or good.

EDIT: What do we think of D’Amaro’s chances?

Most people seem to put him in last place in this race. I think he's got a pretty good shot at the solo chair and have for a long time, but practically I think putting him as COO and Walden as CCO might be the best move here.

 

[JD80]

I wouldn't put the WDI brain drain at the feet of D'Amaro. That's all Chapek's doing.

 

[Surferboy567]

What I will say about D’Amaro I truly believe he has passion for the brand. He seems to genuinely care about the cast members and parks. He does come off a little fake the way he talks but that could easily be a corporate mandate.

He has 1000% more charisma than Chapek ever did. Though like someone said because they picked Chapek last time they may not want to repeat. I also don’t know if he would be a good CEO but he’s the one I’m most familiar with.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

He seems to genuinely care about the cast members and parks. He does come off a little fake the way he talks but that could easily be a corporate mandate.

Actions speak louder than words and social media posts. He is at least visible in the parks and to both guests and CM’s I’ll give him that.

But he doesn’t seem to have a vision for the parks beyond “yes Bob” (at least he didn’t have to rewrite his script!)

 

[Surferboy567]

I wouldn't put the WDI brain drain at the feet of D'Amaro. That's all Chapek's doing.

That fail of a Florida move also didn’t help. I assume that was a Chapek decision.

 

[peng]

What I will say about D’Amaro I truly believe he has passion for the brand. He seems to genuinely care about the cast members and parks. He does come off a little fake the way he talks but that could easily be a corporate mandate.

He has 1000% more charisma than Chapek ever did. Though like someone said because they picked Chapek last time they may not want to repeat. I also don’t know if he would be a good CEO but he’s the one I’m most familiar with.

The one thing that D'Amaro has that the other candidates do not is the showman quality that Walt/Eisner had (yes the parks are the only moneymakers, Chapek's rule also made the parks big moneymakers and he ended up torching a lot of its value). He is good at creating a brand for himself, which the others (Iger included) do not. I still don't trust him with the creative reigns and I feel that Wall Street would call for his and Iger's head if another parks guy was named as the CEO. Wonder what will happen once the successor is named, the last few times have seen the other canidates leave immediately, pretty sure the same will happen. Either way, the sooner the Iger 2.0 era ends the better, I really do not want him to extend at this point as aside from Inside Out 2, the "hope audiences have the same tastes as they do in 2019 until the end of time" strategy isn't working and fresh blood creatively is needed.

 

[JD80]

That fail of a Florida move also didn’t help. I assume that was a Chapek decision.

That was one of the main drivers.

 

[peng]

That fail of a Florida move also didn’t help. I assume that was a Chapek decision.

That and the Disney+ or bust strategy Chapek pushed torched most of Disney's non-parks related sectors. Most of the woes of the rest of the company can be traced back to Chapek quadrupling down on making most of the company's output Disney+ related.

 

[JD80]

Actions speak louder than words and social media posts. He is at least visible in the parks and to both guests and CM’s I’ll give him that.

But he doesn’t seem to have a vision for the parks beyond “yes Bob” (at least he didn’t have to rewrite his script!)

I don't know if he has a vision or not, but with the budget he's been given I'm not sure what kind of vision he has for vision.

However we do have a few bullet points:

• Bruce Vaughn in and Bouza out
• Ushering through Disneyland Forever to whatever stage it's at now
• Disneyland Paris projects/reimagining

We'll get a massive look in to his "vision" in a few weeks.

 

[Lilofan]

What I will say about D’Amaro I truly believe he has passion for the brand. He seems to genuinely care about the cast members and parks. He does come off a little fake the way he talks but that could easily be a corporate mandate.

He has 1000% more charisma than Chapek ever did. Though like someone said because they picked Chapek last time they may not want to repeat. I also don’t know if he would be a good CEO but he’s the one I’m most familiar with.

D'Amaro has a heart. During the 2020 layoffs he had a meeting with some employed operations CMs a number of whom were crying over the layoffs.

 

[Tha Realest]

D'Amaro has a heart. During the 2020 layoffs he had a meeting with some employed operations CMs a number of whom were crying over the layoffs.

He is good at performative empathy.

What about the entertainment CMs that, suddenly now, find themselves out of work for the temerity of being in an industry that’s exercising its collective bargaining options?

 

[Lilofan]

He is good at performative empathy.

What about the entertainment CMs that, suddenly now, find themselves out of work for the temerity of being in an industry that’s exercising its collective bargaining options?

He rose up the food chain by impressing his bosses.